


The Tardis’s Wish

by Colonel_Murph



Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Season/Series 01, Series 03 Fix-It: Children of Earth (Torchwood), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26381092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colonel_Murph/pseuds/Colonel_Murph
Summary: Jack struggles to cope with the past and after he loses his last connection to his life on earth he runs as far as he can. But what if the past isn't as set in stone as he was lead to believe?((on Temporary Hiatus))
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness, Jack Harkness & Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Thirteenth Doctor & Jack Harkness
Comments: 15
Kudos: 61





	1. Gwen Cooper

**Author's Note:**

> I know it’s not an update on my series but this thought wouldn’t leave my mind so you can have this word vomit instead :)

Time was a fickle thing for an immortal. It could slip through your fingers like smoke and yet moments could stretch out for millennia. Currently it was passing at the latter speed for Captain Jack Harkness. He’d seen so many loved ones snatched away by time in his life, lovers, family, friends, everyone. He was an island, forever isolated, caged in life as a most remorseful prisoner with no possible escape.

It had been a long time coming, all the years he had been gifted with her and yet it still wasn’t enough. He’d wasted too many of them, ran away scared but Gwen Cooper had defied all the odds, married, watched her children grow, survived Torchwood and lived to tell the tale. Until now. 

“Jack, is that you?” A frail hand raised in the air as old eyes stared at the hospital doorway Jack was currently lurking in. Seconds ticked by but they felt like years. Try as he might, Jack couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, his Gwen Cooper, old and dying. It wasn’t right, “You bastard, haven’t aged a day in twenty years,” even now she sounded fond, if a little exasperated. He could almost kid himself they were back in the hub, Owen would shout something barbed, Toshiko would mumble something deliciously sassy under her breath and Ianto- Jack’s heart gave a pain full throb, Ianto would just be there.

“Gwen,” Jack’s voice cracked as he forced himself forward, grasping her wrinkled hand between both of his own as he sat by her bedside, “I’m here.”

“I always told Rhys I’d see you again before the end,” Gwen smiled at him shakily, “he tried to pretend he was glad to see the back of you but I knew he kept a bottle of your favourite whisky in the cupboard, just in case you decided to pop round one of these days.”

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Jack told himself he wasn’t going to cry, “I’m sorry I’ve not been here,” looking at Gwen reminded him of everything he’d been running from, the painful memories bubbling to the surface to choke him even now, “it was just too hard.”

“I know,” she squeezed his hand, “I forgive you.”

A weight lifted from Jack’s shoulders and he found he could finally relax in the uncomfortable hospital chair, “I never forgot about you, any of you.”

“I know,” she repeated, a melancholy look passing over her face, “They would have wanted you to move on Jack, I want you to move on. You deserve to be happy.”

Happy. Jack scoffed to himself, he’d almost forgotten what happy felt like. It had been almost two hundred years since he abandoned Gwen and Torchwood, he’d fled to the stars when it became too painful to stay on Earth. Everything here reminded him of what he had lost.

“Ianto wouldn’t want you to do this to yourself,” Gwen fixed him with one of her ‘no bullshit’ expressions, he recognised it well, “he was so young when he died Jack but looking back I can see how important you were to each other. He would want you to be happy, can you do that for me? An old ladies last wish-”

“Don’t,” Jack inhaled sharply, allowing a single tear to fall before quickly brushing it away, “you don’t know what he would want,” to be remembered, like he could ever forget a single thing about him, “I can’t keep going on like this Gwen, I can’t keep losing everyone I care about.”

Taking her hand away, Gwen reached towards the small bedside table next to her and retrieved a battered old phone, “I want you to take this,” she held it out to him, “and I want you to go do what you do best. Go save the world, go and live your life and stop dwelling in the past. There’s only one man who can help you do that now and I think it’s about time you gave him a call.”

The Doctor.

Gwen had tried to get him to go off in the Tardis once before, decades ago now, she had begged him to stop moping about and come home once he felt better but he’d refused.

“I’ve lived a good life Jack, I’ve watched my children grow up, my grandchildren,” she winked, “I even saved the world a couple of times but I think it’s about time we say goodbye,” she hushed him when he went to argue, “Please. This time, please Jack.”

“Okay,” he accepted the phone from her and stood up quickly, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he lost his nerve and did something stupid like kidnap his 97 year old best friend and whisk her away to the 42nd century where he could upload her consciousness to some complex computer system so she’d never leave him, “Goodbye, Gwen Cooper, you were the best of us, truly.”

“Goodbye, Captain Jack Harkness,” she closed her eyes, “and thank you for everything.”


	2. The Doctor?

It took Jack three months of galactic ship hopping before he fulfilled Gwen’s wish and called The Doctor with a heavy heart. He didn’t think he’d ever be ready to face the man but even though he could put it off forever didn’t mean he should, “Doc?” He raised an eyebrow when silence greeted him down the line, ignoring the curious glances he got from talking into the primitive mobile device by the bar, “Doctor it’s Jack.”

“Jack!” An unfamiliar voice shouted back, The Doctor sounded strange, his voice oddly high pitched but then again he knew Regeneration was a lottery, “where, wait, when are you?”

“Galactic cruiser, The Santa Maria,” he rattled off, “It’s the 19th of September, 3988. Listen Doc I was thinking-”

“Just a sec,” and then the line went dead.

Perfect.

He was already halfway to his feet on the way to slope off back to his room when he heard it. The Tardis. A siren call beckoning him to the only home he had left. It was in that moment as he raced off to find the Doctors ship that he realised what Gwen had meant, what better way to escape his past than to go exploring the future with the only other immortal he knew.

The blue beauty looked different than he remembered but she was still the most wonderful ship in the universe, “Hey gorgeous, long time no see,” he stroked her front panel and felt a spark of recognition shoot down his spine, “I missed you too,” he chuckled, “Gonna let me in this time?” The door swung open in invitation and Jack wasted no time throwing himself in headfirst, if anyone could help him it would be The Doc, he’d been running away for far longer after all.

“Jack! It’s been a while,” a bubbly woman poked out from behind the Tardis console and he would have been more amazed by the new décor if she hadn’t stolen his breath away. For a split second all he could see was Rose Tyler but reality quickly set in when he looked past the blonde hair and bright smile and saw someone else underneath.

She seemed to recognise him, whoever she was, and Jack tried hard to place where he’d seen her before. There was always the chance she was in his future since time travel was rarely tidy but surely The Doctor would have given his new companion the run down now about timelines.

Speaking of, he couldn’t see The Doc anywhere, “Hello,” flashing his usual grin, Jack glanced around, “Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?”

“Stop it,” she snorted, waving a hand at him in amusement, “you never change, do you?”

Walking over, Jack took a closer look and found himself transfixed looking into her eyes. He knew that unmistakable shadow she was trying to hide, her eyes had seen the rise and fall of civilisations, had seen galaxies burn and stars explode, he saw that shadow every time he looked in the mirror.

“Doctor?” He hazarded a guess, utterly dumbfounded when her face broke into a massive grin and Jack knew he’d gotten it right, of all the possible regeneration combinations he had not been expecting this one.

Without wasting another second, Jack bridged the gap between them and swept the Doc up in his arms, picking her up with a laugh as he span them both around. She was so short! Utterly tiny and frankly adorable when she scrunched up her nose when he let her down again, “Surprised?” She asked, gesturing to herself.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he leant forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, holding her shoulders as he looked her up and down once more, “it suits you Doc, really.”

“Thank you,” she beamed up at him, life sparkling in her eyes as she gestured to the Tardis console, “you up for an adventure Captain?”

“You read my mind.” 

-

It didn’t take long before The Doctor started asking why Jack had called her now, it had been a long time after all and she was curious why he had waited so long to reach out. At first Jack tried to brush it off, he was with her to distract himself from the past, not dredge it all up again and relive the pain one toxic word at a time. So she let him get away with it for a while longer, showed him the far corners of the universe, got into trouble and ran away. He’d almost forgotten just how much running there was when you kept the Doc as company.

Eventually though she had to put her foot down, Jack had been getting more and more reckless, dying left right and centre without care and even though she logically knew he was a fixed point in time there was a small part of her that feared one of his deaths would stick. The Doctor was tired of losing people too after all.

“Jack, that’s enough,” she helped him to his feet and towards the Tardis once he revived once more from a stupid, unnecessary death, “this has got to stop, what’s wrong with you?”

“That’s rich coming from you Doc,” he snapped, “you’re the one that called me wrong at the end of the universe after all.”

She had and it was one of the worst mistakes of her very long life, “I’m sorry,” she frowned when he just laughed hollowly, “Jack-”

Jack cut her off, only half aware he was talking aloud, “Today would have been the 19th of August back on Earth, 2073,” he sniffed, “Ianto Jones would have been 90 years old today and not a single day goes by that I don’t miss him with every fibre of my being. How do you do it Doc? How do you leave us behind and- and survive? How can you smile and laugh and keep going on when their deaths follow you like a second shadow everywhere you go?”

“Oh Jack,” she sighed, sinking to the Tardis floor next to him, “I keep them with me, in my hearts even if it breaks them in the process.”

“I can’t keep doing this,” he whispered as he let the Doctor hold him, “please Doc, there has to be another way.”

“I’m sorry,” she ran a hand through his hair as he cried on her shoulder, “I’m so sorry Jack.”

-

Later, when the Doctor had popped out to check on her gang, team, fam? Her friends, Jack sat moping by the Tardis console, stroking a random panel, deep in thought, “I wish I could go back,” he told her, the blue lady hummed around him and Jack knew she’d heard. It wasn’t her fault he was this way and he didn’t blame her but Immortal life was something no human should ever have thrust upon them, it was enough to send them mad, “If I could do it all again no one would die. Toshiko and Owen deserved so much better. Suzie too, she had so much potential before the glove snatched her away. And Ianto,” he sighed, tilting his head back to stare at the domed ceiling.

“Did I ever tell you about him?” He asked the Tardis as he let himself indulge in the brighter parts of his past, “Ianto Jones, he was amazing. You would have loved him, smart, loyal, looked delicious wrapped up in those suits of his and god was he funny, could make me laugh with just a look,” Jack sighed, “I loved him, so much and he never knew it. I never got the chance to tell him properly and I’ll regret that for the rest of my life.”

The Tardis’ lights dimmed around him as Jack continued to lose himself in his memories. It felt so good to talk about Ianto after so long, to remember the good times instead of the bad, “We were fake married for a while, he hated it but I know he kept a copy of the best front lawn award in his diary. One time he got turned into a woman and I recognised him with a single kiss, how romantic is that? Oh, and he was invisible for a while, that was strange all round,” he chuckled, eyes drooping, “the first time we met he was my knight in shining armour, saved me from a weevil and brought me a pet dinosaur, how is anyone supposed to resist that? I loved him,” he yawned, allowing sleep to drag him away, “I still do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think then? Good? Not so good? Very not so good and you want me to stop? Ha! Tough luck my friend :)


	3. Ianto!

He woke up gasping but that wasn’t too unusual for Captain Jack Harkness, what was unusual was where he woke up gasping. He recognised the space intimately and couldn’t believe the Doc would be so cruel as to dump him here, now, of all places. He was in his bunker in the hub, his bunker that blew up over two hundred years ago when the government decided Torchwood were more of a hinderance then help during the 456 invasion.

The 456.

Ianto.

The Doctor couldn’t be this cruel, surely? To drop him off without a words notice in the one time period he was avoiding like the plague. He’d just have to find his past self, explain the situation and briefly borrow his wrist strap so he could get out of here as soon as possible. He couldn’t stay.

But… he was wearing his wrist strap and, yes, he was in his old pyjamas he began wearing in the hub when Ianto started and joined him on the night shift. He hadn’t wanted to scare him off back then, little did he know that Ianto had been hiding his cyber girlfriend in the basement and would have done just about anything to keep her safe from him.

Bracing himself, Jack slipped up to his office and checked the CCTV on his computer, this couldn’t be happening, right? It was stupid to believe something like this could be happening, it was foolish to get his hopes up because everything was only going to hurt ten times worse when he realised the truth.

In the end it didn’t matter what he would or wouldn’t find on the CCTV, as soon as his eyes landed on a heartbreakingly familiar head of neatly combed brown hair, Jack knew that nothing could take him away now, “Ianto,” he whispered, heart pounding as his eyes tracked the man crossing the main area of the hub, “Ianto!”

The other man turned around with wide, startled eyes, as Jack thundered towards him and oh that face, Jack thought to himself as he approached, god he was so young, “Sir?!” Those vowels, that precious voice he never thought he’d hear again, “Is something wrong?”

He gathered Ianto up in his arms and held onto him tightly, ignoring the way the other man tensed as he breathed him in for the first time in over two hundred years, “Ianto,” he couldn’t let go, he was never going to let go again, “oh Ianto, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

“O-okay,” an awkward hand patted Jack on the back as the younger man tried to comfort him, “is everything alright?”

Jack knew he had to let go but he couldn’t make his arms listen, “I just,” Ianto took the decision away from him as he firmly and politely pushed him away, “Ur, bad dream,” Jack scrambled to come up with an excuse, “Awful, terrible nightmare of a dream and I- I just needed to make sure that you were really here.”

“I’ve been here all night sir, I’m fine,” Ianto didn’t quite smile but it was close, “can I get you a cup of coffee or…” he trailed off with a worried look as tears filled his boss’ eyes, “hot chocolate?” He offered with a slight squeak, completely out of his depth.

“A coffee would be marvellous if you don’t mind Ianto, you make the best in the galaxy,” he chuckled wetly as Ianto shot him a relieved look, “trust me, I checked.”

Laughing along nervously, Ianto took a step back, “I’ll bring it up to your office shall I?”

“Sounds wonderful, thank you,” Jack watched him go, seriously fighting the instinct to follow like a lost puppy and attach himself to Ianto’s hip for the foreseeable. He had to check the computer, he needed to know where the other version of himself was, surely they could come to some sort of an arrangement, like a time share of sorts? He’d have to be careful of course, Toshiko would probably catch on if he wasn’t and the last thing he needed was to be thrown in the cells for being an imposter or something similar. Maybe he should come up with a back up plan to snatch Ianto and escape if things went south, fuck the timeline.

He needn’t have worried himself over it though, according to the computer logs Captain Harkness had never left the building and he wasn’t in the hub, Jack was wearing his clothes, his vortex manipulator and had woken up in his bed. It should be impossible but somehow Jack had replaced himself in the past. 

It looked like the Tardis had granted his wish and had given him a second chance after all and this time he wasn’t going to mess it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I’ll update next. Could be tomorrow. Could be two weeks. What a fun guessing game! :)


	4. Miss Hallet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I’m still alive, just unbearably slow :)

As wonderful as the second chance Jack had been gifted was, he knew the road ahead was going to be far from easy. If he changed too much all his knowledge of future events could become obsolete but if he changed too little then horrible things would still happen.

Case and point, Lisa.

Currently Ianto was still hiding his half converted girlfriend in the basement and as much as the idea alone terrified Jack he knew he had to deal with it. He could admit that the first time round mistakes had been made on all sides, in the heat of the moment he’d wanted to hurt Ianto, make him feel as much pain as possible to try and drown out his own feelings. What better way to do that than ordering the man to shoot Lisa?

His Ianto had forever since been plagued with nightmares about that fateful day, it wasn’t enough that Canary Wharf had haunted his dreams but Jack had added to that pain, maybe this time he could do better. Ianto could get the closure he needed and say goodbye to her properly, Jack couldn’t begrudge him that.

“One coffee sir,” Jack was up and round the desk, invading Ianto’s personal space out of habit more than anything, before the archivist could even finish, “Oh, umm,” Ianto awkwardly offered him the mug and took a step back.

The grey mug. Not the blue and white stripes.

“Thank you,” Jack resisted the urge to pout, this Ianto hadn’t sussed out his favourite mug yet, or he had but didn’t particularly care. Huh, that was going to take some getting used to. While Jack still felt the enormity of his feelings towards the other man, Ianto wasn’t even close yet, “What are you doing here so late anyway?”

“Just some archiving, sir,” Ianto lied, it was obvious now Jack knew his tells, how had he missed this the first time round? Ianto was clearly in a bad way, far too thin, haunted eyes when he thought no one was looking, “no rest for the wicked you know?”

“Don’t I ever,” Jack chuckled, sliding round behind his desk and gesturing for Ianto to take a seat, “I actually wanted to talk to you for a moment, if that’s alright?”

“Of course,” his face said otherwise as he sat down, “is there something I can do for you?”

How the hell was he supposed to have this conversation, “I hope so?” He couldn’t just come out and accuse Ianto of hiding his half converted girlfriend in the basement, Jack had to tread carefully, “I… I hope you know that you can come to me with your problems Ianto. You’re a part of my team and I know I haven’t been acting like it but it’s true.” The confused expression on Ianto’s face was breaking his heart, “I care about you.”

“Is this about what Owen was saying earlier?” Ianto eyed him dubiously, “Because if it is, I honestly don’t care what comments are flung my way, I can handle myself sir.”

Jack’s lips twitched but he didn’t take the bait, he knew just how well Ianto could handle himself, “This has nothing to do with that, although I will be having a word with him about workplace boundaries.”

“There’s no need,” Ianto looked at him pleadingly, “I think him and Susie are still doing their on and off again thing, he’ll be fine in a few weeks when they sort themselves out.”

Oh god, Susie. He’d deal with that can of worms later, “I didn’t call you in here to talk about Owen and Susie,” Jack tried to get back on track, “I want you- I need you to understand that you can come to me with anything. I will always hear you out, I will try and understand and we can work together towards a solution to any problem you have Ianto. You can tell me anything, you know that, don’t you?”

Ianto realised that Jack was sounding desperate and unconsciously sat up straighter, “I really don’t know where this is coming from sir,” he denied, “everything is fine.”

“Ianto,” Jack sighed, he’d have preferred the man to come clean himself but they didn’t have time for this, “I know.”

A man had never resembled a deer in headlights as much as Ianto Jones did in the passing seconds. He looked equally horrified and resigned as he scrambled for an excuse, “I-”

“Lisa Hallet,” Jack spoke softly, “did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” A low blow since he technically hadn’t but Ianto didn’t need to know that, “Ianto, we can’t do anything for her. You know this, you’ve read everything we have about the Cybermen, once a conversion has started it can’t be undone.”

“No,” shaking, Ianto slid from his chair and onto his knees, begging him, “please, she’s still in there, I know she is. I’ve got a specialist coming, he’s promised he can save her. I’ll leave, take her away and-”

“Dr Tazinaki cannot save Lisa,” Jack hated this, he hated the look of betrayal and despair in Ianto’s eyes, “I’m sorry Ianto, I really am but she isn’t the woman you fell in love with. The Cyberman is using your connection to her. It’s playing on your emotions.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Ianto challenged him.

Jack sensed that ‘I just do’ wouldn’t cut it and decided honesty was his best bet, “I’ve seen first hand what these creatures can do. I’ve stood by and watched as they’ve destroyed some of the people I cared most about in the world and trust me Ianto, I would never wish that pain upon anyone.”

Ianto didn’t want to hear it, “You’re wrong!”

“Are you willing to die for her?” Jack snapped, losing his patience.

He did not expect the calm answer he got in response, “Unquestionably.”

In that moment it became abundantly clear to Jack that he didn’t have Ianto’s loyalty yet, she did and a bitter feeling of resentment flared in his chest. Or perhaps it might have even been jealousy. Either way, he pushed it down and concentrated on getting through this conversation without either of them pulling a gun, “While I appreciate the sentiment, unfortunately I’m not going to let you die any time soon.” He could see they were getting nowhere, maybe it was time to change tactics, “Let’s say you’re right, that you can undo the conversion? Why not let us help you? Owen is one of the best read Doctors when it comes to Cybernetics, he’ studied it in great length even if he’d never let on. I just want what’s best for you Ianto.”

“You’d let Owen try to save her?” Ianto slowly got up off his knees and shifted his weight from foot to foot, “How do I know you won’t just put a bullet in her head?”

“I knew she was down there before I even called you into the office,” Jack pointed out, “If I wanted to kill her, she’d already be dead,” maybe not the best thing to say to convince Ianto he was on his side in retrospect but it seemed to do the trick.

“Alright,” Ianto was pale but Jack could tell in the way he held himself that he’d made his decision and would stick to it, “alright then, I’ll let Owen take a look.”


	5. Doctor Harper isn’t a Prick... *much of a Prick.

Owen liked to think he was a pretty decent doctor, he knew he wasn’t the most pleasant of people but when it came down to it, he was damn good at what he did. That being said, he was glad Jack had escorted Ianto from the room before he’d come face to face with his cyberchick. He didn’t think the younger man would have been very happy to hear the mouthful of ugly he’d let out at the sight of her, “Jesus Harkness, how long has he had this thing hidden under our noses?”

“She has a name Owen, have a little respect,” Jack knew he was being a hypocrite, had shot her himself all those years ago but this was his second chance to do things the right way, “Ianto was only doing what he thought was best, you can’t-”

“Yeah yeah, I get it,” Owen huffed, avoiding eye contact as he added quietly, “She’s his Katie, right?”

“Right,” Jack shifted from foot to foot, not sure where they were going to go from here. It had made so much sense to call Owen in back when he was hiding behind his desk but Jack hadn’t planned much further than that, “so is… I mean can we do this peacefully? Ianto deserves to say goodbye.” They both knew there was no undoing what was done, it was far too late, Lisa Hallet had died the moment she was strapped down onto the conversion table.

“Well from the looks of things he’s built this system from scraps,” Owen was no Toshiko when it came to alien tech but he could recognise a life support system when he saw one, “Without an external power source or major rework it shouldn’t be able to sustain itself,” he couldn’t meet Jack’s eye, “should be as simple as pulling the plug so to speak.”

“Don’t do this,” not-Lisa gasped quietly but neither man could meet her dead eyes, “please, help me.”

“I can pump the system full of meds,” Owen cleared his throat, it was too late to do anything for her but he could make Ianto’s last memory of the woman he loved a peaceful one at least, “he can say his goodbyes without the cybernetics trying to guilt trip him.”

That was more than Jack had ever even dared to hope for, “Owen?” He could see how difficult this was for the man, it killed Jack to get him back after all this time only to cause him pain after everything. He swore to himself that he’d make things better for the medic this time round, “Thank you.”

“Yeah yeah,” he ran a hand down his face, “let’s just get this over with.”

He hadn’t wanted to leave Owen alone to break the news to Ianto but after a heated argument and some heavy persuasion, Jack had let him take the lead. If that meant sitting in his office twiddling his thumbs while the man he loved broke down just out of reach then Jack would suffer through it, he’d do just about anything for Ianto Jones after all, no matter the personal cost.

And just like that, it was done. Ianto said goodbye to the woman he loved, sobbed and mourned by her bedside without the firing squad at his back this time. There were no guns, no dead pizza girls and no horribly mutilated foreign scientists to clean up after but that didn’t mean that everything was magically made better. 

Surprisingly after depositing a slightly shell shocked Ianto in the medical bay, Owen left him there and offered to deal with the remaining tech in the basement without any bitching for once, “I’d much rather deal with melting all that shit down than getting the tea boy home safe.” When Jack didn’t say anything in response Owen’s eyes snapped up and his shoulders shot up to his ears, “You’re taking him home, right?”

“Yes,” Jack blurted quickly, “god, yes I am. I’d never…” he sighed, “He’s so _young_ Owen, he has this- this amazing _potential_ and it’s my fault he didn’t come to us with this in the first place.”

“Can’t say I blame him,” Owen shook his head, berating himself, “we- okay I’ve, not exactly been the nicest to ‘im since he started.”

Well that was going to change from now on, “I’ll handle things from here,” Jack squared his shoulders and gathered all the confidence he could bluster, “I’ll take him home and tell him he’s on suspension for a month, give him time to grieve and decide if he wants to come back.” It would break his heart all over again if Ianto chose retcon over coming back but Jack would let him make his own decisions, he wasn’t giving up on him though even if that means buying the flat across the hall and starting over fresh.

-

Ianto didn’t understand what was happening, by all accounts he should have been executed the moment Jack saw him earlier in the evening for harbouring an alien threat in the basement and yet here he was, sat on his sofa with his boss staring at him like a hawk from behind the kitchen counter.

“Ianto?” Ah here it comes, death or retcon perhaps? Maybe Jack was going to wait for him to fall asleep before killing him, a peaceful death was more than he deserved, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” he’d said that aloud hadn’t he? Great, “Why?” Ianto asked, daring to look up at Jack with undoubtedly red eyes, evidence of his crying earlier, “Why didn’t you kill me? I technically committed treason, Torchwood One would have-”

“I’m not Torchwood One,” for some reason he looked sad, not angry but more like he’d already made his peace with this shitshow of a night, “and I’m going to do everything I can to prove that to you.” 

Scoffing, Ianto stumbled up onto his feet and made a mumbled excuse about going to bed, not particularly caring if Jack stayed put or left of his own accord. He just wanted to stop feeling for a while, the guilt, pain and heartbreak that had been his constant companion for months had reached an almighty crescendo and Ianto was _Done._

Jack watched the man he loved walk away and close the door on him, stifling a sigh as he settled down on the uncomfortable sofa they hadn’t broken together yet and told himself he’d only stay one night. Just one night and he’d leave well before Ianto woke up in the morning. It wasn’t ideal, he’d have much preferred to fall asleep with Ianto in his arms, hell he’d have slept at the foot of the bed given half the chance. Jack drew the line at sneaking into his bedroom to watch him sleep though, there would be plenty of time for that in the future when Ianto didn’t want him dead in Lisa’s place.

Ianto might not love him right now, might despise him really but if Jack had earned his affections the first time round somewhat accidentally, how hard could it be now he was actively trying?


End file.
